Honestly, even I don’t really follow the logic.
There have been ruminations for some time that Sony had begun implementing stricter rules in regards to sexual content in games on the PS4. And no, it seems, those suppositions have been proven correct. Per statements made to the Wall Street Journal, a Sony spokesperson stated that they had created their own standards for such content in games on their systems, ahead of those required by PEGI or the ESRB.
While the spokesperson gave reasons for the initiative, such as offering “balanced content” that doesn’t “inhibit the growth and development” of the young, the WSJ implies a more cynical reason. According to anonymous sources close to the company, they’re doing it to preserve the brand. Mostly out of a worry as to how some Japanese games might be viewed in the West. While Japan has strict guidelines for sexual content, those guidelines are by and large specifically a matter of censoring, well, genitals. As such, their sexual content can get a bit more… racy… in ways that are outside the ordinary in the West. Namely, Sony’s seemingly worried about the ones that, to some degree or another, degrade women of sexualize underage girls (or hey, why not both, it’s Japan, right?). Namely, these sorts of games have Sony worried they’ll somehow catch the public eye, opening them up to litigation.
Which, I mean, I’d argue they’re a bit late to the party to when it comes to worrying about that. I’ve been playing Japanese games for a while. I’ve kind of been forced to resign myself to the fact that at least some of the Japanese games I might want to play are going to feature “1000-year-old” lolis that walk around dressed like costhots. Grass grows, birds fly, and apparently lonely Japanese nerds are the living embodiment of an Oingo Boingo song. And most moral guardians are too busy freaking out about the immediate violence and all the other shit they hate about video games to even bother giving a fuck about this. They’d hate it anyway, but they already hated the thing it’s part of to begin with.
Regardless, many developers aren’t exactly happy about it. They’re often forced by these rules to “cover up” things with smoke, lens flares, or what have you. Which may seem like a small thing, but with smaller studios, that’s more work and a higher cost. For something they don’t have to care about on other available platforms. For example, the recent deal with Devil May Cry V.
What’s really interesting, though, is just how little the other major players care about this. There’s some sort of irony in the fact that Sony’s censoring multiplatform games that, in some cases, evenNintendo isn’t bothering to do so with. And Nintendo spent years erasing every bit of religious or risque imagery from games on their systems with a nigh-puritanical verve for decades. If Sony isn’t really careful, it’s possible these developers might seek greener pastures, so to speak.
Source: Engadget
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